Osama Mahmud “Sam” Mustafa--who gained notoriety here after it came to light that one of the September 11, 2001 hijackers worked in a gas station he owned in La Mesa--is back in the news again.

Mustafa, 49, who now lives in Riverview, Florida, along with co-defendants Khaldoun "Tony" Khalil Khawaja, of Tampa, and Khawaja's brother, Muawia "Mike" Khalil Abdeljalil, a Virginia resident, were indicted by a federal grant jury for conspiracy to profit from a trade in fraudulent tax refund checks, along with various money laundering and related fraud charges, according to a news release yesterday from the office of the U.S. Attorney General, Western District of Virginia.

"The defendants are charged with purchasing fraudulent income tax return checks and checks issued for Refund Anticipation Loans and then presenting those fraudulent checks for payment at financial institutions in the Western District of Virginia, the Middle District of Florida and elsewhere," the release says.

"In all, the defendants are accused of fraudulently depositing more than $17.5 million as a result of the scheme."

"Each defendant was charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States for the purpose of impairing the lawful functions of the Internal Revenue Service, to receive fraudulent Treasury checks, to commit wire fraud and to structure currency transactions, one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering."

9/11 hijacker Nawaf Alhazmi was found to have worked at Mustafa's "Sam's StarMart" gas station on Spring Street in La Mesa, according to a highly critical congressional review of the FBI's monitoring of the terrorists in the months leading up to the attacks on New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon in Washington.

Osama was born in the US, he was even in the Navy so stop talking crap about deporting him or anyone with an Arab last name. Even if proven guilty it's not a big deal. Not more than the rip off that happens on a daily basis in California and Congress by lobbyists and corrupt politicians. At least these guys were supporting their families and not spending the money on abusing children or killing people. Why would somebody smart enough to steal that much money be stupid enough to put all his assets under his name? I'm just sayin.... It smells like a set up to me....